November 5, 2004 . A final rule was passed Thursday by the National Park Service that will allow 720 commercially-guided snowmobiles into Yellowstone and 140 snowmobiles into Grand Teton National Park on a daily basis for the next three seasons.
The service reports that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Temporary Winter Use Plans Environment Assessment, approved Nov. 4 by National Park Service Intermountain Regional Director Steve Martin, ensures that snowmobile and snowcoaches will be allowed on roads that autos use in summer.
The 720 snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone daily is below the historic peak of daily use in Yellowstone, and is lower than what was allowed at the end of last season, according to the Parks Service. All sleds entering Yellowstone must be 4-strokes that pass the "Best Available Technology" (BAT) standards.
Commercial guides will not be required for the 140 sleds allowed daily in Grand Teton. A description of the sleds allowed in Grand Teton is a little more complicated. Here's what the National Parks Service says:
"A list of BAT snowmobiles will be required in Grand Teton National Park, with the exception of a short segment of the Continental Divide Snowmobile Trail (between Moran Junction and the east park boundary) and those originating in the Targhee National Forest and traveling on the Grassy Lake Road as far as Flagg Ranch."
In Yellowstone, snowmobiles will continue to be able to use roads that are traveled by auto in summer. Sleds will be prohibited on specific side roads, according to the Parks Service, including the Fountain Flat Road, Virginia Cascades Drive, North Canyon Rim Drive, Riverside Drive and the road from Canyon Junction to Washburn Hot Springs. Firehole Canyon drive will only be open to snowmobilers from noon to 9 p.m. each day.
Daily, 40 sleds will also be allowed on Jackson Lake for ice fishing only. Valid Wyoming licenses and proper fishing gear is required, according to the Parks Service.
Longer term use regulations are planned to be made from the data gathered by the Parks Service while this 3-year temporary plan is in place.
For more information, and to see the whole plan, visit
www.nps.govUpdate: Fund for Animals files suit challenging the No Significant Impact finding. November 8, 2004 - - In a suit filed by the Fund for Animals that challenges the "No Significant Impact" finding by the National Parks Service in the interim Winter Use Plan described above, the group asks the court to halt road grooming throughout the park, according to the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association.
In the suit, the group claims the 25-foot wide snow packed roads created each winter cause changes in Bison migration. The Fund For Animals is requesting that Yellowstone Park "be retained in its 'natural condition' and is asking the Park Service to prohibit disturbing wildlife from its natural state," according to the ISMA. The "natural condition" of the Park is not defined in the suit.
More information will be posted here when it's available, and for a complete history and more information visit the BlueRibbon Coalition's Yellowstone site,
www.saveyellowstonepark.com